Eph. vi. 18. Praying always ivith all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance, and supplication for all saints.
IT is graciously ordained of God that none of his creatures should be independent of him : however richly they may be furnished with either gifts or graces, they are under the necessity of receiving continual supplies from him, and of acknowledging him, from day to day, as the one source of all their benefits. Hence, in addition to the armour with
which the Christian is arrayed from head to foot, it is necessary that he wait upon God in prayer, agree- ably to the direction given him in the text.
To enter into the full meaning of the Apostle's words, as connected with the foregoing context, it will be proper to shew,
I. The aspect which prayer in general bears on the
Christian warfare —
II. The particular kind of prayer that will ensure to
us the victory —
I. In considering the aspect which prayer in general bears on the Christian warfare, it should be noticed, that prayer is the medium of communica- tion between God and man : it is that whereby man ascends to God, and makes known to him his wants, and gains from him whatever he stands in need of.
It is by prayer that we must obtain the armour provided for us. No one part of the divine panoply can be formed by an arm of flesh : from the first infusion of faith and hope into the soul, to the per- fect transformation of the soul into the Divine image in righteousness and true holiness, all is of God. He is the only " giver of every good and perfect gifta:" and all his children in all ages have acknowledged their obligations to him in this view. The evange- lical prophet confesses, " Thou hast wrought all our works in usb;" and to the same effect the great Apostle of the Gentiles speaks ; " He that hath wrought us to the self-same thing is Godc." But how must this armour be obtained from God ? Hear his own direction : " Ask, and ye shall have ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto youd." Desirous as he is to impart to us all spiritual blessings, " he yet will be inquired of by use," that he may bestow them on us as the reward of importunity f. Not that he needs to be informed of our wants, for " he knoweth what things we have
a Jam. i. 17. b Isai. xxvi. 12. c 2 Cor. v. 5.
d Matt. vii. 7. e Ezek. xxxvi. 37. f Heb. xi. 6.